Bomb dropping toy airplane



June 23, 1953 Q KELLY 2,643,125

BOMB DROPPING TOY AIRPLANE Filed Dec. 16, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet lINVENTOR- I47 gerold 0. Kelly TEN a.v

ATTO RNEY June 23, 1953 G. c. KELLY BOMB DROPPING TOY AIRPLANE FiledDec. 16, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

c s mld C.Ke ||y ATTORNEY Patented June 23, 1953 UNITED STATES RATENTOFFICE BOMB DROPPING TOY A IRPLANE Gerald 0. Kelly, Apponaug, R. I.

Application December 16, 1948, Serial No. 65,611

3 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in toy airplanes.

I am aware that others have provided toy airplanes in which a stick,carried by the hand of the operator, having its upper end attached by acord to the airplane, is rotated by the arm of the operator to cause theairplane to rotate in a circular course around his hand. This hasnecessitated that the arm of the operator be at all times in a raisedposition and that the hand be continuously rotated to propel theairplane in its flight. Such devices are very tedious to operate as thehand must be held erect and moved during the entire operation and it hasbeen impossible to take off the airplane or land it from the groundor'to successfully make it dive, climb or loop.

An essential feature of my invention comprises the use of a pole,preferably of a height substantially greater than that of the operator,having the model airplane so attached to the upper end of the pole by acord which is mounted so that its pole attaching portion or means freelyrotates about the upper end of the pole, whereby the lower end of saidpole may be rested on the ground, its upper end tilted and rotated bythe hand of the operator to cause said airplane to take off from theground and rotate in a banked position around said pole a substantialdistance above the ground until it gains flying momentum when saidairplane may fly in a banked position by its own inertia on said ringaround the then erect upper end of said pole and land evenly, orcontinue its flight on intermittent rotations of the upper end of thepole, or by rotating said upper end in an elliptical orbit, saidairplane may dive and turn and climb in flight.

An object of my invention, therefore, is to provide a toy of thisdescription, in which the model airplane may take off from and land onthe ground as in actual practice.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of thisdescription which is very easy to operate as the weight of the structureis entirely carried by the ground and all that the operator has to do isto revolve the upper end of the pole, requiring a minimum amount ofeffort, not sufficient to tire the operator.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device wherein afterthe upper end of thepole has been rotated to permit the airplane to gainflying momentum, said airplane may fly around the then erect upper endof the pole by its own inertia for a substantial number of revolutions,

so that during the larger portionof its flight no exertion on the partof the operator is required at all.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device in which, assoon as the airplane starts to lose flying momentum, it may land evenlyon the ground in simulation of an airplane or may continue its flightalmost indefinitely by th application of a few short intermittentrotations of the upper end of the pole to gain flying momentum.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device in which theupper end of the pole may be rotated in an elliptical orbit to cause theairplane to dive and climb in flight in simulation of an actualairplane.

A further object of my invention is to provide the pole and modelairplane of such a weight that the pole may be lifted off the ground androtated in an oblique plane above the horizontal to cause said plane todo an inside loop.

A further feature of my invention relates to the provision of a uniquetype of bombing device operable by a finger of the hand of the operatorwhich rotates the pole, including a bomb rack on the plane and a manualactuator therefor on the pole effective for releasing a bomb at a timefrom said bomb rack.

Further features of my invention relate to the actual construction ofthe model airplane and pole I specifically employ, and includeimprovements in the nose and landing gear of the airplane.

A further feature of my invention resides in the fact that I preferablyconnect the operating cord from the pole to a point on said airplaneslightly interior of its center of gravity in its direction of rotation,so that the plane will automatically be banked as it rotates around theupper end of the pole of the operator at a height clearly free of theoperator.

These and such other objects of my invention as may hereinafter appearwill be best understood from a description of the accompanying drawingswhich illustrate an embodiment thereof.

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view showing my invention in use,being operated by the arm of an operator, showing the pole, cord andairplane in full lines in a take-off position and in dotted lines in aflying position.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation partially shown in section of the upper endof the pole.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the model airplane partially broken awayand shown in section, Figs.

2 and 3 being illustrative of the airplane in its take-off position.

Fig. 4 is a reverse plan view showing how the two rear wheels of thelanding gear are attached to the model airplane.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic front elevation showmg how the front landingwheel is attached to the model airplane.

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of the pole similar to Fig. 2, butshowing the parts in bomb dropping position.

Fig. '7 is a side elevation like Fig. 3 in bomb dropping position, Figs.6 and 7 showing the positions of all parts of the airplane toy in a bombdropping position.

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the upper end of the pole taken at rightangles to Figs. 2 and 6, showing the position the movable parts assumein operation, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 in full lines and the positionsaid parts assume in bomb dropping position as shown in Figs. 6 and 7 indotted lines.

Fig. 9 is a transverse vertical sectional View taken along the line 9-9of Fig. '7.

Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic plan view showing how the upper end of thepole is initially rotated in spiral formation to move the plane fromtakeoff to flying position, and then rotated in the circle shown to gainflying momentum when the upper end of the pole may be held erect topermit the plane to fly of its own inertia.

In the drawings, wherein like characters of reference generally indicatelike parts throughout, 28 generally indicates a toy constructed inaccordance with my invention. Said toy includes a pole 22 of a heightsubstantially greater than that of the operator 24. Said pole preferablyhas a ring 26 freely rotatably mounted on the upper end 28 thereof. Iprovide the model airplane 38 and a cord 33 joining said model airplane38 to said ring 26, whereby the lower end 32 of said pole may be restedon the ground 34, the plane 30 laid on the ground in take-ofi positionand the upper end of the pole tilted and rotated by the hand of theoperator to cause said airplane to take off from the ground and rotatearound said pole 22 and operator 24 a substantial distance above theground until it gains flying momentum when the pole may be held erectand said airplane may fly by its own inertia around said pol and whenits flying momentum has become expended, land evenly in simulation of anordinary airplane, or it may, on intermittent rotations of the upper end28 of the pole to again provide flying momentum, continue its flightthrough its own inertia. If desired, the pole 22 and model airplane 38may be of such a weight that the pole may be grasped by both hands ofthe operator and rotated in an oblique plane above the horizontal tocause said plane to loop. It is also apparent that if the upper end. 28of the pole be rotated in an elliptical orbit by the hand 36 and arm 38of the operator, that said plane may dive, turn and climb, in flight.

I also provide a bomb rack 40 mounted on the model airplane 30,preferably vertically, and I provide a succession of bombs 42 verticallysuperimposed on each other within said rack and manually movable means,including the cord 84 mounted on and connected to said pole and airplanefor successively releasing a bomb 42 at a time from said bomb rack.

In practice, the upper end 28 of the pole is provided with the axialhole 44 therein, and I provide a hollow cylindrical bearing 46 havingits lower end mounted in said hole and a stop comprising an outwardlyflaring portion 48 on the upper end thereof. The ring 26 comprises aring shaped member rotatably mounted on said bearing 48, having aneyelet 58 therein for securement of the upper end 52 of the cord 33therein. The lower end of said cord is secured to an eyelet 53 mountedon the upper end of the fuselage 60 of said airplane, preferably at apoint interior of the center of gravity of said airplane in itsdirection of rotation, in the embodiment shown preferably at an angle of5 inwardly of the vertical line Bl passing through the center ofgravity, when in raised position. (See Fig. 9.)

The model airplane is provided with a bomb releasing means; the bombs 42are preferably of a generally cylindrical shape and are provided With anextended reduced center portion 54, providing the cylindrical tips 56 ateach end thereof, so that each bomb is of the general shape of adumbbell, with the exception that the ends thereof are cylindricalinstead of spherical.

The bomb releasing means in the model airplane comprises a cylindricalbomb rack 40 mounted in a hole 58 extending substantially vertically ofthe fuselage or body 68 of the airplane. Said cylindrical bomb rack 48has an internal periphery of a size to receive a succession ofvertically superimposed bombs 42 therein, and is provided with the openupper end 62 and open lower end 64 in an extension 66 projecting belowthe fuselage 80. Said extension 66 has a peripheral slot 68 therein onthe rear surface thereof substantially th height of one and onehalfbombs from the lower end thereof adjacent the lower surface of the body.

To actually release a bomb, I provide a releasing lever 10 of the firstclass of a length substantially the distance between said rack lower end64 and slot 68, having a pivot ear l2 substantially centrally thereoffor pivotal mounting on a pivot lug 14 extending rearwardly from saidracl; extension 68 by means of the pivot pin 16.

Said lever 10 is provided with a lower inwardly projecting arm 18adapted to underlie said lower end 64 of the bomb rack 40 and to supportthe aligned bombs 42 in the rack 40 and an upper inwardly projecting armpivotal to a position within said slot 68, in the embodiment shown botharms 18 and 88 projecting forwardly for this purpose.

I provide manually movable means connected with said pole 22 to tilt thelower end 18 of said lever outwardly to release a bomb, causing saidupper end 80 to move within said slot 88 to underlie the upper end ofthe next adjacent bomb, said means comprising an eye 82 projectingoutwardly, in the embodiment shown rearwardly from the lower end 18 ofsaid lever, and the operating cord 84 extending upwardly through avertical slot 88 therefor provided in said fuselage and to the upper endof said pole and operable by the hand of the operator in the manner tobe described.

I also provide spring means 88 operable on release of said manuallymovable means 84 to tilt said lever '10 back to a position withdrawingits upper arm 80 from said slot 68, permitting the bombs 42 in said rackto drop, with the lower end 18 of said lever covering the open end 64 ofsaid bomb rack 40 to abut the lower end of the then bottom bomb toretain it in a cooked position on said rack with the pile of bombssuperimposed above it.

In the embodiment shown, said spring comprises a coil spring having itsupper end 90 wrapped around a lug 92 projecting laterally from the pivotlug I4 and its lower end 93 coiled around the lower portion of the leverI0.

While any means may be provided on said pole for raising said cord 84 totilt the lever to release a bomb 42 as shown in Fig. 7, in my preferredembodiment shown, said means is preferably constructed as follows:

The axial hole 44 has a reduced portion 92 extending a substantialdistance downwardly from said bearing 46 and a radial slot 94 extendingan equal distance axially of said pole.

To raise the bomb operating cord 84, I provide a bomb operating rod 96of substantial length, having an upper end 98 extending axially throughthe hollow bearing 46 and axial hole extension 92, a portion I00projecting radially outwardly through said axial slot 94 and a lowerportion I02 extending axially downwardly to adjacent the height of theoperator. lower portion I02 in alignment, I provide the spaced upperguide eyelet I04 and lower guide eyelet I06. Said operating rod 88 isadapted to be raised to raise the cord 84 for actuating the bombreleasing lever 10 by the manually operated mean to be described, and Iprovide the spring I08 to assist in returning it to starting position,comprising the coil spring I08, having its upper end secured to saidradial portion I04 and its lower end secured to the upper eyelet I04. Ialso mount the aligned eyelets I09 and H0 on said pole 22 diametricallyopposite said lower rod end I02, with the upper eyelet I09 a substantialdistance above the tip of said lower end I02, and I provide the loopedcord II2 having one end thereof connected to the tip of said lower rodend I02 and having each portion I I4 of the loop extending arounddiametrically opposite sides of said pole 22 and extending jointlydownwardly through said opposite aligned eyelets I09 and I I0, and Iprovide a finger operable ring IIS on the lower end of said cord I I2. Imount the stop nut II8 on the upper end of said rod 98 and I rotatablymount the ring I on the upper end of said rod, being preferablysupported by another stop nut I22 mounted on said rod below the desiredposition of said ring I20. Said ring I20 is also provided with an eyeletI24 for receiving the upper end of the operating cord 84.

For the purpose of my invention hitherto described any type of modelairplane may be employed. I preferably, however, construct my improvedmodel airplane particularly for use in the aforedescribed combinationand for this purpose make the fuselage of the usual conical shape havingtapered ends and attach the rudder I28 thereto.

In my preferred embodiment, the lower end of the fuselage is providedwith the elongated transverse slot I28 for receiving the central portionof the one piece wing member I3I transversely therethrough. For apurpose to be described, I also provide the front axle receivingtransverse slot I30 extending rearwardly beneath the nose I32 thereof.To suitably balance the airplane in its flight, I provide the metal ringI34 fitted on the tip of the nose I32 above said slot I30 and I mountthe free spinning propeller I36 on said nose, preferably on a suitablescrew I38 projecting centrally rearwardly thereof.

I provide a landing gear for my toy airplane, made essentially of bentwire. For this purpose, I provide a rear axle I40 made of bent wire,having a landing wheel I42 mounted on each end thereof and a centralprong I44 of substantial To maintain said i width projecting firstrearwardly, then upwardly, and having a preferably W-shaped portion I48projecting forwardly within said transverse slot I 28. The transversewing member I3I is then mounted within said slot I28 and suitablysecured thereto by means of the screws I29, securing said axle prong I44and hence rear axle bar I40 to said model airplane. The front axle I41has a transverse portion I48 on which the front wheel IE0 is rotatablymounted and the arms I52 projecting obliquely upwardly and forwardlyfrom each end thereof to cross each other and have rearwardly extendingtips I54 fitting into opposite ends of said rearwardly extending noseslot I30. It is obvious, however, that in place of the specific landinggear shown any suitable type of landing gear may be employed.

If desired the pole 22 may be made in the detachable portions 22a and221), which may be joined together by the connecting sleeve 2 I shown insection in Fig. 6. v

The operation of my improved device is obvious from the abovedescription. The airplane 30 is rested on the ground in a position, sothat when the upper end 28 of the pole is held in position by the hand30 and arm 38 of the operator 24, the cords 33 and 84 will be positivelytaut. The upper end 28 of the pole is then swung in a spiral coursediagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 10 until it attains the circle 21shown therein when it may be rotated on the circle until the modelairplane gains the desired flying momentum. The airplane will thenattain a position substantially even with the shoulders of the operatoror even higher as diagrammatically illustrated in dotted lines in Fig.1, when if the upper end 28 of the pole is held erect, the air? planewill rotate in a banked position of its own flying momentum around thetop of the pole and if the top of the pole be no longer rotated,

it will slowly lose its flying momentum and land' evenly, both thetake-off and landing being actually simulative of that of a realairplane. If it be desired to continue the flying longer, as

. soon as the flying airplane starts to lose momentum, the upper end ofthe pole 28 may again be rotated a few turns in a circular path 27 asshown in Fig. 10, causing the airplane to again attain flying momentum.The plane can continue its flight as long as the operator desires, it

being a very easy plane to fly as the operator does not have to lift theweight of anything, the entire weight of the device being supported bythe lower end 32 of the pole resting upon the f ground. It is onlynecessary to rotate the pole a few turns and the airplane will coastfifteen times in half a minute, when the pole may again be rotated fouror five times in five seconds'to cause the plane to continue to flyalmost indefinitely. Due to the fact that the eyelet 53 is mountedinterior of the center of gravity of the model airplane, the plane willfly in perfect banked alignment around and around. Should it be desiredto cause the plane to climb, turn and dive successively, the upper endof the pole may be rotated in an elliptical orbit for this purpose.Should the operator 24 desire to cause the plane to do an inside loop,it is merely necesring it'd causing the operating ring I20 to rise,

lifting the cord 84 upwardly to tilt thelower end I8 of the bombreleasing lever outwardly to release a single bomb 42, with its upperend 80 underlying the upper end of the next adjacent bomb to preventmore than one bomb dropping at a time. When the operator releases hisfinger from the ring H6, the return spring I08 pulls the operating rodI02 downwardly and the spring 88 again tilts the bomb releasing leverIE! so that its upper end 80 is withdrawn from the slot 68 of the nextadjacent bomb 42, to cause the succession of bombs to drop downwardly,with the lower end '58 of the lever simultaneously closing the lower end64 of the bomb rack 40 to support the line of remaining bombs in thebomb rack, with the lower bomb in a cocked position for firing on nextmanipulation of the ring I I6.

With practice, a great deal of accuracy in the dropping of bombs can bedeveloped.

It is apparent that I have provided a novel type of airplane toy havingthe novel foregoing modes of operation, with the various noveladvantages and results hitherto described.

It is understood that my invention is not limited to the specificembodiment shown and that various deviations may be made therefromwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A toy, comprising a pole of a height substantially greater than thatof an operator, having a freely rotatable ring mounted on the upper endthereof, a model airplane and a cord attached to said ring and to thetop of said airplane whereby the lower end of said pole may be rested onthe ground, its upper end tilted and rotated by the hand of the operatorto cause said airplane to take oii from the ground and rotate aroundsaid pole and operator a substantial distance above the ground until itgains flying momentum, when said airplane may fly on said ring aroundthe then erect upper end of said pole and land evenly or continue itsflight on intermittent rotations of the upper end of the pole or byrotating said upper pole end in an elliptical orbit said plane may diveand climb in fiight, a bomb rack vertically mounted within saidairplane, a succession of bombs vertically superimposed on each otherwithin said rack and manually movable means mounted on and connected tosaid pole and airplane for successively releasing a single bomb at atime from said bomb rack, said bombs being of cylindrical shape with anextended reduced centre portion and said bomb releasing means comprisesa cylindrical bomb rack mounted vertically of said airplane body, of adiameter to receive a succession of vertically superimposed bombstherein having an open upper end and an open lower end terminating belowsaid body and a slot substantially the height of 1 /2 bombs from thelower end thereof and adjacent the lower surface of the body, areleasing lever of the first class of a length substantially thedistance between said rack lower end and slot substantially centrallypivotally mounted on said depending lower bomb rack end having a lowerinwardly projecting arm adapted to underlie said lower bomb rack end tosupport the bombs, and an upper inwardly projecting arm movable into andout of said slot, manually movable means connected to said pole to tiltthe lower end of said lever outwardly to release a bomb, causing saidupper end to move into said slot to underlie the upper end of the nextadjacent bomb and spring means operable on release of said manuallymovable means to tilt said lever back to a position withdrawing saidupper arm from said slot, permitting said next adjacent bomb to dropwith its lower end abutting the lower end of the next adjacent bomb toretain it in a cocked position on said rack.

2. A toy, comprising a pole of a height substantially greater than thatof an operator, having a freely rotatable ring mounted on the upper endthereof, a model airplane and a cord attached to said ring and to thetop of said airplane whereby the lower end of said pole may be rested onthe ground, its upper end tilted and rotated by the hand of the operatorto cause said airplane to take off from the ground and rotate aroundsaid pole and operator a substantial distance above the ground until itgains flying momentum, when said airplane may fly on said ring aroundthe then erect upper end of said pole and land evenly or continue itsflight on intermittent rotations of the upper end of the pole or byrotating said upper pole end in an elliptical orbit said plane may diveand climb in flight, a bomb rack vertically mounted within saidairplane, a succession of bombs vertically superimposed on each otherwithin said rack and manually movable means mounted on and connected tosaid pole and airplane for successively releasing a single bomb at atime from said bomb rack, said bombs being of cylindrical shape with anextended reduced centre portion and said bomb releasing means comprisesa cylindrical bomb rack mounted vertically of said airplane body, of adiameter to receive a succession of vertically superimposed bombstherein having an open upper end and an open lower endterminating belowsaid body and a slot substantially the height of 1 /2 bombs from thelower end thereof and adjacent the lower surface of the body, areleasing lever of the first class of a length substantially thedistance between said rack lower end and slot substantially centrallypivotally mounted on said depending lower bomb rack end having a lowerinwardly projecting arm adapted to underlie said lower bomb rack and tosupport the bombs, and an upper inwardly projecting arm movable into andout of said slot and in which the upper end of the pole is provided withan axial hole extending a distance downwardly therein having a reducedportion extending a substantial distance downwardly and a radial slotextending an equal distance axially of said pole, a cylindrical bearinghaving its lower end mounted within the enlarged portion of said holeand extending a distance above it having an outwardly flaring top, aring rotatably mounted on said bearing between said enlarged top andpole and an eyelet mounted on said model airplane interior of the centreof gravity thereof along its radius of revolution and a cord connectedto said ring and eyelet to support said airplane during its flight, abomb operating rod extending axially through said pole bearing and axialhole, having a portion projecting radially outwardly through said axialslot and a portion extending axially downwardly to adjacent the heightof the operator, spaced guide eyelets mounted on said pole for theaxially extending lower rod end, a return spring connecting said radialportion and said upper eyelet, aligned eyelets mounted axially on saidpole diametrically opposite said lower rod end with the upper eyelet asubstantial distance above said lower rod end, a looped cord having oneend thereof connected to said lower rod end having a portion thereofextending around diametrically opposite sides of said pole and extendingjointly downwardly through said opposite aligned eyelets, and a fingerengageable ring mounted on the lower end of said loop, a stop nutmounted on the upper end of said rod, a ring rotatably mounted on theupper end of said rod above said stop nut, said model airplane having ahole extending substantially vertically therethrough and a cord havingone end connected to said rotatable rod ring extending outwardly to saidairplane and downwardly through said airplane hole and its opposite endconnected to the lower arm of the bomb releasing lever.

3. A toy, comprising a pole of a height substantially greater than thatof an operator, having a freely rotatable ring mounted on the upper endthereof, a model airplane and a cord attached to said ring and to thetop of said airplane whereby the lower end of said pole may be rested onthe ground, its upper end tilted and rotated by the hand of the operatorto cause said airplane to take oil from the ground and rotate aroundsaid pole and operator a substantial distance above the ground until itgains flying momentum, when said airplane may fly on said ring aroundthe then erect upper end of said pole and land evenly or continue itsflight on intermittent rotations of the upper end of the pole or byrotating said upper pole end in an elliptical orbit said plane may diveand climb in flight, a bomb rack vertically mounted within saidairplane, a succession of bombs vertically superimposed on each otherwithin said rack and manually movable means mounted on and'connected tosaid pole and airplane for successively releasing a single bomb at atime from said bomb rack, said bombs being of cylindrical shape with anextended reduced centre portion and said bomb releasing means comprisesa bomb rack mounted vertically of said airplane body, of a width toreceive a succession of vertically superimposed bombs therein having anopen lower end terminating below said body and a slot substantially theheight of 1 bombs from the lower end thereof and adjacent the lowersurface of the body, a releasing lever of the first class of a lengthsubstantially the distance between said rack lower end and slotsubstantially centrally pivotally mounted on said depending lower bombrack and having a lower inwardly projecting arm adapted to underlie saidlower bomb rack and to support the bombs, and an upper inwardlyprojecting arm movable into and out of said slot and in which the upperend of the pole is provided with an axial hole extending a distancedownwardly therein and a radial slot extending a distance axially ofsaid hole, a bomb operating rod extend ing axially through said axialhole, having a portion projecting radially outwardly through said axialslot and a portion extending axially downwardly to adjacent the heightof the operator, spaced guide eyelets mounted on said pole for theaxially extending lower rod end, a return spring connecting said rod anda fixed point on said pole, aligned eyelets mounted axially on said polediametrically opposite said lower rod end with the upper eyelet asubstantial distance above said lower rod end, a cord having one endthereof connected to said lower rod end having a portion thereofextending downwardly through said opposite aligned eyelets, and a fingerengageable ring mounted on the lower end of said cord, a stop nutmounted on the upper end of said rod, a ring rotatably mounted on theupper end of said rod above said stop nut, said model airplane having ahole extending substantially vertically therethrough and a cord havingone end connected to said rotatable rod ring extending outwardly to saidairplane and downwardly through said airplane hole and its opposite endconnected to the lower arm of the bomb releasing lever.

GERALD C. KELLY,

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,327,464 Dewick et a1. Jan. 6, 1920 1,539,469 Dempster May26, 1925 1,712,074 Fridolph May 7, 1929 1,952,952 Steiff Mar. 27, 19342,031,419 Kramer Feb. 18, 1936 2,061,953 Sampson Nov. 24, 1936 2,199,461Jones May 7, 1940 2,347,689 Johnson May 2, 1944 2,405,313 Martin Aug. 6,1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 52,232 Denmark Sept. 28, 1936

